When Two Worlds Collide
by Sarah Withers
Summary: Gibbs is up for retirement but first he has to get through one final case.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Firstly apologies in the delay in posting the next chapter in my other fic, I had an idea for a short one parter whilst at work on Sunday and it turned into this. It wasn't originally written to be separated into chapters but at 15,000 words I thought it would probably be best if I did and so here is chapter one.

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat at his desk watching the clock as his final few minutes as a special agent ticked by. It had been a particularly quiet final week for the senior special agent, no new cases had left him with plenty of time to catch up on outstanding paperwork; and to brood on the fact he felt his career was being prematurely ended due to outdated federal bureaucracy.

With two minutes to go on this final shift Director Vance appeared at the top of the stairs and called down to him, "Agent Gibbs, you're going to have to put your retirement on hold. I need you for one final case, I've got two dead bodies in an alley off Pennsylvania avenue, DC police called us when the first officer on the scene found dog tags on one of the victims, the scene was secured but other than that nothing has been done. They're waiting for your team."

Gibbs nodded, "McGee, Jen, Moretti gear up."

He grabbed his gun and badge from the drawer and crossed the bull pen to the elevator, stepping in he moved to the back as the other members of his team joined him as the doors began to close. The team were silent as they descended to the parking lot, Gibbs speaking only to give McGee a location as he left them at the truck and carried onto his car. He slid into his sear and turned the engine on before sliding out of his parking space, passing the truck he noted Jen and Moretti still arguing over who had to sit in the middle.

He quickly navigated the streets between the Navy Yard and the crime scene; he pulled the car over to the side of the street and walked over to the tape. He flashed his badge at the local guarding the scene before ducking under the tape. He pulled his gloves on and made his way over to the two bodies, walking around the pool of blood he crouched at the head of the first victim, using the tip of his pen he fished out the dog tags and then made a note of the name. Noise coming from the sidewalk made him look up; he smiled slightly at the sight of his medical examiner sharing a tale with the rather bored looking DC police officer. "Hey Duck…"

"Ah Jethro…" The familiar form turned to him and began to walk towards him, "I had heard the Director put your retirement on hold…"

Gibbs nodded, "One final case…" He paused and waited as his friend slowly crouched next to one victim and then the other making his preliminary observations, "So Duck, what am I dealing with?"

"Both victims were shot several times," He pointed as he continued, "The first victim was shot once in the lower abdomen and once in the chest; the second was shot once in the shoulder, all three shots appear to have been from a distance… Both victims also appear to have been shot in the head from close range, most likely to ensure death became the pair of our unfortunate victims. This was most certainly personal Jethro, though what our pair could have done to be considered worthy of such a death I could not begin to guess. Based on liver temp and rigour I would say they died no more than twelve hours ago… No less that nine… I shall check ID on our marine with dental records back at the lab. No ID on the second victim but I shall have our Abby run the DNA, see if we can't give the unfortunate fellow a name…"

Gibbs nodded as Ducky moved back to the truck, helping Palmer arrange gurneys and body bags for both victims. Gibbs looked to his team who had arrived and were waiting to the side before he began barking orders at them, "McGee crime scene sketches and photos, Jen, Moretti walk the perimeter, bag and tag anything, see if you can find the murder weapon…"

He watch as his team quickly and quietly went about their tasks, the past year spent as a team had enabled them to become a very efficient unit. He watched as Ducky and Palmer cleared the bodies and headed back to the Navy Yard to begin the autopsies. Gibbs and the rest of the team stayed behind processing the scene. He watched as Jen returned triumphant from her dumpster diving expedition, holding up an evidence bag containing a hand gun. Gibbs took it from her signing the seal, "I'll take this back to Abby and see what Ducky has, you three finish processing the scene…"

Driving back to the headquarters he quickly make his way down to the autopsy suite, stepping through the doors he greeted his old friend with a nod, "What you got for me Duck?"

"It is very much as I suspected at the scene Jethro. The shots to the chest and abdomen occurred first," he motioned to the first victim, "The first bullet caught the poor boy's spleen and then lodged in his spine, I fished the second from his left ventricle. Either one of them could quite easily have been fatal; the shot to the head in this case was quite unnecessary, though dental records confirmed that this is indeed Staff Sergeant Mark Miller. Our other friend remains a mystery to us, I have sent blood up to Abby for DNA, I'm sure she's running it through any databases that are available to her as we speak. What I can tell you is that this man stared death straight in the face. The first shot hit the shoulder joint, I would say it was intended to incapacitate rather than kill. The powder burns around the entry wound in the skull suggests that the barrel was pressed to his temple as the trigger was puller," he held two fingers to his own temple in demonstration, "Staff Sergeant Miller's headshot I would say came from no less than three feet away, it certainly lacked the personal touch bestowed upon out other guest. I would go as far as to suggest that he was in fact the intended target and that our marine just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

Gibbs nodded, "thanks Duck…"

Ducky continued, "I've also sent the bullets I recovered up to Abby should you find anything to compare them with…"

Gibbs held up the evidence bag, "On my way now Duck…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

He left the room and took the elevator up a floor, walking into Abby's lab he winced as the wall of noise she called music hit him. He crossed to her CD player and turned it off. She turned around surprised by the sudden silence and spotted him, "Gibbs!"

She bounced over to him and flung her arms around his neck, "They said they hadn't let you go yet! How they ever think they can do this without you?! Maybe I should retire too; I don't know I want to do this without you!"

Smiling slightly he extracted himself from her grasp, "You'll still have McGee… So you got anything for me Abs?"

"Patience Gibbs, these things take time and skill, a lot of skill and even more time… I've ran our mystery man's DNA through military and FBI databases, got nothing…"

Gibbs nodded and placed the gun on her evidence table, "When you have chance I want you to run a comparison, see if bullets from this gun match those Ducky extracted from our vics. Call me when you get an ID"

With that he began to walk towards the doors, pausing as he heard her call his name, he turned to find her looking disapprovingly at him, "Did I say I was finished Gibbs? He wasn't in military or FBI databases, however I extended the search and I got a match. Our John Doe is in fact Shai Levi, an Israeli national… Also a Mossad operative…"

She watched as his eyes brightened at the mention of Mossad, "Good work Abs…"

She watched as he turned to leave for a second time, "Hey Gibbs…"

He paused, turned and pointed behind her, smiling as her eyes found the Caf-Pow waiting for her. He left the lab and walked up to MTAC, instructing them to get the director of Mossad on video conference.

He sat down as he waited for the director to become available and the call to be connected. Finally a middle aged man appeared on the screen and he stood walking forwards to speak with him, "Agent Gibbs, I am Michael Cohen, deputy director. I am told you have found one of our officers murdered in Washington."

Gibbs nodded in response, "A Shai Levi… We believe he may have been the intended target of the attack. Can you tell me what he was doing in Washington?"

"I'm afraid not Agent Gibbs, the information is highly classified; only the director can authorise the release of that information."

Gibbs sighed in frustration, "Then why am I wasting my time speaking with you?"

The man at the other end of the conversation looked fairly apologetic, "The director is temporarily out of contact…"

Gibbs glared, "As soon as they are back in contact I want to know, I have a dead marine and I do not need a foreign agency impeding my investigation."

With that he signalled to one of the techs and they cut the feed. Leaving MTAC Gibbs found the rest of his team seated at their desks. McGee stood, "Not much to say boss, the serial number had been filed off the gun, Abby applied a mild acid solution to it, that began to erode the denser metal," he paused noticing the look crossing his boss's face, "Sorry boss, Abby managed to restore the serial number, ran it through several databases came up empty. She also ran those comparisons for you, bullet fired from the gun matched those extracted from the bodies; no sign of the gun having been recycled though, no matches for any unsolved crimes. I also spoke to the staff sergeant's fiancé, she said he was well liked by everyone, that she didn't know of any enemies nor had she heard of Shai Levi, she had no idea why he might be meeting him."

Gibbs nodded, "Go home, there's nothing more you can do tonight; I think we are going to struggle to move forward with this until the elusive Mossad director reappears and tells me what one of their operatives was doing meeting with a US marine in an alley in Washington."

He watched as one by one his team gathered their belongings and left before gathering his own things and following in their footsteps.

Once home he quickly changed and headed down to his basement; emptying a variety of screws and nails from a jar he reached for his bourbon, pouring himself a shot before downing it. He reached for his block and wrapped a piece of sandpaper around it before moving over to the shell of his latest boat. Carefully rubbing in the direction of the grain he sanded until he felt his eyes begin to droop. He put the block down and climbed the stairs from the basement, taking on last look at the boat he flipped the light off and headed upstairs. Undressing he climbed into bed and quickly allowed sleep to take him.

Awaking early the next morning he showered and headed back to the office. He glanced at the clock on his dashboard as he pulled into his parking space, at half past six he was bound to be the first of his team to arrive but that didn't bother him. Walking into the bullpen he quickly checked he had no messages before dialling the deputy director on his mobile, "Deputy Director Cohen I am still waiting for the reason your officer was in my city…"

The man on the other end of the line remained calm despite the gruff tone of Gibbs' voice, "As I explained to you Agent Gibbs I do not have the authority to share that information with you. It is a matter of the Director to decide upon."

"And let me guess the director is still out of contact," Gibbs continued without giving the other man a chance to answer, "Let me assure you if I find the state of Israel is intentionally hampering my investigation I will ensure"

A voice cut through the conversation stopping him dead, "Agent Gibbs, threatening the deputy director of Mossad is not a wise move, nor will it get you anywhere as you will find he is being entirely truthful…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

He turned towards the source of the familiar voice, flipping his phone closed as his eyes came to rest on the figure standing on front of the elevator, "Ziva?" he questioned, the voice was familiar to him but the woman dressed in a dark suit and stilettos did not match his memories of the agent who had returned to Israel following her father's death.

"Don't let the outfit fool you; I could still murder you in ten different ways with a paperclip…" A smile crossed her face and she quickly closed the gap between them wrapping her arms around him as he pulled her into a hug, pulling back she looked at him closely, "Jethro you have not changed one bit… I have missed you…"

"I missed you too Ziva… What are you doing here?"

She moved to her old desk, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Looking up at him she answered his question, "The fact NCIS has run Shai's DNA through our database was brought to my attention. I boarded a plane straightaway and flew overnight to Washington. Shai was working here at my personal request."

Gibbs looked towards he puzzled, "If Officer Levi was here at your personal request why was I informed only the director was authorised to reveal the details of his mission?"

"Jethro I am the Director of Mossad… following my father's death the Prime Minister stated he wished for Mossad to appear more accessible to the people of Israel. He wanted the public to know that we are an intelligence service dedicated to protecting not just our own nation but also those of our allies; we are not a secret society of assassins. Upon my return I was appointed my father's successor, it was hoped that the senior members respect for my father would enable me to do the job whilst moving the agency in the direction the Prime Minister wished. But that is not important, what is important is the reason Shai was in Washington in the first place. My father maybe dead, and whilst outwardly all those in the agency have shown themselves to be loyal to me and the new direction there are still those within the service who remain loyal to him; those who are prepared to exact revenge on his behalf and restore honour to me family. Those who believe Ari was a valuable mole within Hamas and not a traitor to my family and my country; those who believe you murdered him. Jethro they can do nothing about me and the fact I brought dishonour upon my father by working for the man believed to be responsible for Ari's death, but you… they still believe that killing you will restore the honour of my father."

"Are you saying Officer Levi was in this country to murder me?"

Her eyes flashed up to meet his, "No! Of course not, I told you he was here at my personal request. It was brought to my attention that several of my father's closest allies had been meeting secretly. I looked into it and I believe they were planning on sending another agent who remained loyal to the old ways to America to kill you. Shai was here to protect you. He was instructed to find the officer in question and neutralise him."

"Are you telling me you authorised an assassination on American soil?"

She looked up at him, her face devoid of any emotion, "I simply instructed Officer Levi to use any force he felt to be necessary. The man in question was a disgrace to Mossad and a liability to my country; should he have succeeded in killing you the trust between our two nations would have been severely compromised." She rose from her chair, "I must speak with Director Vance..."

She walked past him and headed up the stairs, he watched speechless as she disappeared into the director's office, only come out of his trance as he heard the elevator doors ping and slide open, "Morning boss!"

He turned to see McGee walk out into the bullpen closely followed by Jen and Moretti, they all quickly crossed to their desks, both men sat down and began to work but Jen paused, "Someone's been at my desk since I left…"

Gibbs peered at her over the rim of his glasses, "Yes, is that a problem?"

"No, no of course not… I was just wondering if you knew who it was…"

"Yes I do."

She sighed sliding into her seat, "But you're not going to tell me…"

"Ziva…" McGee's voice cut across the conversation, the incredulity clear in it.

Jen looked at him puzzled, "The officer I replaced? I thought she was in Israel…"

Gibbs snapped at her, "Officer David was one of a kind, you did not replace her. She is irreplaceable."

"It is Ziva…" McGee's voice came again clearly oblivious to the minor disagreement that had just taken place. This time all three pairs of eyes followed in the direction McGee was looking in and came to rest on the two figures standing at the top of the stairs looking down at them. The bullpen went silent as the pair made their way down to join them. Director Vance was the first to speak as they reached them, "Special Agent Gibbs, Director David has just informed me of the possible situation surrounding you and this case. Whilst I firmly believe you should be placed in protective custody for your own safety she seems to disagree."

Ziva cut in, "Protective custody would leave him an easy target. Mossad officers are trained to do exactly this sort of thing; you could surround him with four, five even ten of your agents and as long as you confine him to one place you are almost certainly signing his death warrant. Plus this is Gibbs we are talking about; he would give them the slip at the first available opportunity."

"I'm sitting right here you know…" Ziva turned to the source of the noise, seeming to register the fact that he was there for the first time since her return from the Director's office., "Of course, sorry Gibbs…"

McGee looked between the pair of them and then back to the other two members of the team, "Hey boss, Ziva could one of you let us in on the secret. What does out case have to do with you and protective custody?"

Ziva turned to him opening her mouth to answer as the elevator doors pinged once more and another familiar voice filled the room, "So the new director of Mossad can't control her own house… That's not good Zee-vah; I'm not always going to be here to clear up your messes…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Ziva turned glaring in the direction of the voice, McGee stared in surprise and Gibbs turned to Director Vance, "You called DiNozzo in?!"

Ziva turned her attention back to Gibbs, "I called Tony from my car… He knows the details of the case, I decided the best chance on keeping you alive is having the three of us back together and working with you again."

McGee looked at her his mind suddenly clearing, "Ari…" She nodded in response and he continued, "They finally discovered it wasn't Gibbs that pulled the trigger?"

She shook her head, "No they still believe it was him, that is the issue. Men who are still loyal to my father with revenge on his part; they have sent an officer to America to kill Gibbs…"

"Shai Levi?"

Ziva shook her head once more, "No Shai was here on my orders, he was to find the rogue agent and neutralise him, to protect Gibbs…"

Jen scoffed from her desk, "Great job he did…"

Tony and Tim both winced as Ziva turned to her, her eyes were cold as she looked to the agent, "Special Agent Whyte do not for a moment think that you could have done better…" She took several steps towards the desk and watched as the woman shrank back away from her, "This simply demonstrates the skill level of the officer in question, he is more competent that I had anticipated, but this is what we are trained to do..." She leant over the desk clearly intimidating the younger officer, "Right now I could kill you in at least twenty different ways so efficiently you would not even be able to begin to fight back before you breathed your last…"

She moved away from the desk, "I want you to run the details of everyone arriving into Washington on a plane from the Middle East in the past week; pay particular attention to anyone who entered on a diplomatic passport." She turned to the male agent who had remained silent up until that point, "I want you to get me video from airport security and start matching faces to names…"

Both of the agents looked towards Gibbs and he looked back, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Both agents sprang into action, making calls and accessing computer records. Tony crossed the room to join his former team, "Looking good Zeev…"

She laughed and grabbed her bag, "And you are still not getting any DiNozzo…"

She disappeared down the stairs heading for the locker rooms to change. On her return to the bullpen the suit and stilettos were gone and in there place was the agent everyone recognised from her time on the team, Ziva stood in her boots, cargo pants, vest top and jacket; her hair pulled free from its intricate top now flowed freely around her face as she pulled out a chair and sat down in the midst of her familiar old team.

Tony looked over at her, the humour now gone from his eyes, "How bad is this Ziva?"

She paused, "Very… though the Prime Minister is pleased with the direction Mossad is moving in there are still those within its ranks that remain loyal to the old ways; to my father. They still believe that the most important thing is the reputation and honour of the director and his family. I feel they will stop at nothing to kill Gibbs and restore my father's honour…"

Tony nodded in understanding. "It seems to be there is one easy way out of this mess…"

Ziva looked up him, for the first time her voice was not filled with the confidence and authority but was instead quiet. "Yes I will have to admit the truth; that the report was faked."

"Absolutely not!" the pair of them looked towards the voice, "Ziva I knew what I was doing when I wrote and signed that report. I wrote it to protect you from your father and his friends and I stand by my actions. I will not allow you to attempt to save me by putting yourself in danger…" she opened her mouth to speak but he growled at her, "Consider that an order David…"

She smiled slightly and nodded, "Very well Gibbs, in that case we must identify the rouge agent and hope we find him before he finds us…"

Gibbs nodded and answered his phone as it rang, "Be right down Abs…" He turned to the others, "Abby's got something…"

All five agents stood and he pointed to Moretti and Jen, "Not you two, you keep running those names, see if you can find anything else…"

Gibbs joined the other three and together they took the short trip down to the lab, "What is it then Abs?"

She continued watching her computer screen as she began to talk, "Moretti sent me the airport security tapes to run facial recognition on? Do you know how many flights come in from the Middle East in a week Gibbs, how many people?! It's a lot but that's not important, I ran the tapes against the Mossad agent database. How did you swing that Gibbs? It usually takes days to get any access and even then it's limited…"

"I authorised the search Abby…"

She swung round at the sound of the second voice, "Ziva! Ziva you came back!" she ran over to her and pulled her into a bear hug, "I missed you! You never call, you hardly ever write…"

She pulled away and looked disapprovingly at her; Ziva smiled, "I will make more of an effort in future Abby, I promise…"

Abby nodded seemingly satisfied and then spotted the man standing at the end of the line, "Tony!

She rushed to him pulling him into another of her hugs, "Oh we're all back together just like the old days!"

Gibbs rolled his eyes but could help but smile as he gently reminded her of the reason they were all standing in her lab, "Oh yeah I got a match! An Officer Nahir David…"

All eyes turned to Ziva and she answered their unasked questions, "He is a cousin, his father is my father's younger brother. Growing up we both looked upon my father with a great deal of respect an admiration. As I grew older I saw him for the man he truly was; Nahir never did, he idolised him until the moment he died…"

DiNozzo looked at the face on the plasma screen, "Is he any good?"

She nodded, "My father trained us together, Nahir is one of the best and blind to my father's faults, I doubt he will be reasoned with…"

Tony picked up the evidence report from the desk, "So we'll have to find him before he finds Gibbs…"

"Indeed." She turned to Gibbs, "From now on you go nowhere alone." She hushed him as he opened his mouth to complain, "I do not want to hear it, I will admit you are more able than most to deal with the threat, your training has made you more aware of your surroundings than most but this is a highly trained assassin."

The rest of the day passed in a blur of activity, the team spent hours reviewing more security tapes and attempting to track Nahir's movements since his arrival in the country. As the sun began to set Gibbs ordered the team home, informing them all to be vigilant as it was possible that they could be at risk themselves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Gibbs headed for the elevator and Ziva followed him, stepping into the lift just as the doors began to close, he smiled, "You were always very good at that; you had leaving it to the last minute down to an art…"

She laughed, "We had to learn quickly with you…"

She watched him as the lift descended, turning her attention back to the front as the doors opened. She stepped out of the lift and walked quickly over to his car; she paused at the driver's door and held her hand out for his keys.

"I can drive myself Officer David…" He gave her the look that had caused many a criminal to succumb to his wishes but she simply stared back.

"It's Director David…" with that she leaned into him and snatched the keys from his hand. She paused triumphant before crouching down and checking underneath the car; satisfied that it was clear of any explosives she unlocked the car and slipped into the driver's seat. She sighed at his reluctance to get into the car and leaned over opening the passenger side door, "I am trained in evasive driving, and you are not. It makes perfect sense."

"You think he doesn't know where I live?"

"Well of course he does, but that doesn't mean I am going to make it easy for him…" She turned the engine on and waited as he sighed, gave in and slid into the seat next to her. "Thank you…"

She pulled out of the parking lot and made her way out to the main road, passing through the gate she began to pay close attention to everyone around her; frequently checking her mirrors for any sign of the same car following her as she wove in and out of the late evening traffic on her way through the city to the suburb he called home.

As they began to near his house he looked over at her somewhat smugly, "That black car is following us Ziva. It has been for the past six blocks…"

"That car has been following us since we left the Navy Yard; it is DiNozzo and McGee…" She laughed and turned into his street, pulling off the road and into his driveway she waved to her two team mates as they drove past. Entering the house together they made a quick sweep of the building. Satisfied that no one had been inside they moved back to the kitchen. Ziva sat quietly at the kitchen table as Gibbs moved around the room swiftly preparing an evening meal for the pair of them.

They ate in silence, both of the hyper vigilant for any movement outside the house. As they finished they moved together, washing and drying in perfect harmony without the need to say a word. Suddenly feeling tired Gibbs made his way upstairs closely followed by Ziva. He grabbed a T Shirt and shorts from the dresser and crossed to the bathroom to change.

Ziva sat at the end of the bed and glanced around the room, "Everything is still exactly as it was…"

He smiled as he walked out of the bathroom, "I guess it is… you wanna borrow a T-Shirt?"

She nodded and he crossed back to the dresser pulling out another T Shirt and pair of boxers before handing them to her. She thanked him and went to change, walking back out she placed her neatly folded clothes on the chair and sat on the edge of the bed; placing her gun on her lap she pulled her hair back out of her face a secured it in a ponytail.

He climbed into bed and watched her as she remained alert at the end of the bed, "Ziva you don't need to do this, I could make a call and have a couple of agents here…"

She turned to look at him, placing the gun beside her on the bed, she looked deep in thought before answering him, "No Jethro this is my place, it is because of me you are in danger," she held her hand up to stop him from interrupting her, "I am not apologising, we both knew what we were doing and we did what needed to be done. I may have saved your life but you have saved mine on more than one occasion. I owe you this…"

He nodded understanding the way she was feeling, "I suppose there is no one more qualified to protect me than you…"

She laughed and picked up her gun, "Go to sleep Agent Gibbs."

He leant over and switched the light out, settling back he soon drifted into unconsciousness. Ziva sat listening to his deep steady breaths in the dark, satisfied she lay down on the spare side of the bed, that she had once become so familiar with, and drifted into a light slumber, gun still in hand. Several hours passed without a sound when she suddenly heard something. At once Ziva was awake and alert, identifying the sound as someone climbing through a downstairs window she quietly moved from the bed. Taking the safety off her gun she quickly moved through the bedroom avoiding the floorboards that had a tendency to creak. Sliding out of the bedroom she saw a shadow moving up the stairs; silently melting back into the shadows she waited until the attacker was level with her before stepping out and wrapping her arm around his throat as she pressed the gun to his temple, "Hello Nahir…"

He froze as she tightened the grip on his throat, "Ziva…"

She tightened her grip further and heard him begin to choke, "You didn't think it would be so simple did you? Leave now and I will let you live…"

He grunted and she tightened her grip once more, cutting off his air supply. She held her grip as he refused to respond, she sensed he was beginning to grow weak from the lack of oxygen when he finally nodded and she released her grip. She paused, alert for any unexpected movement on his part as he left the house. Satisfied the threat had passed she slipped back into the sleeping agent's room and onto his bed. She lay down beside him but remained awake and alert for the rest of the night.

As morning broke over Washington DC Gibbs woke and looked to Ziva, "You look exhausted, did you sleep at all?"

She shrugged, "A few hours… Nahir was here and I have not slept since he left…"

"Nahir was here?"

She nodded, "He left with a little persuasion but I think this is not the last we will have seen of him…"

"When we get to the Navy Yard you must get some sleep…" He gently stroked her cheek, "Thank you for last night…"

She smiled and lent into his hand, briefly enjoying the feel of his hand against her skin before pulling away. "I should change… Tony and McGee will want to know about last night as soon as possible." She began to stand and Gibbs caught her hand, "Ziver…"

She shook her head slightly, "No, not now Jethro. I need to be able to focus all my attention on keeping you alive…"

He nodded and released her hand, watching as she picked up her clothes from the chair and reached a towel from the blanket box she knew he kept them in before entering the bathroom and showering.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Ten minutes passed before she returned fully dressed with her hair falling in damp loose curls around her face as she rubbed at them with the towel. Gibbs rose from the bed and crossed to the wardrobe, reaching up he pulled a hairdryer and brush from a basket, "You left these here… it's been a while but I guess it should still work…"

She thanked him and took them from him, sitting on the stool at the vanity she plugged it in. She pulled the brush through her hair before she began to blow dry it; smiling as she saw Gibbs watching her in the mirror and he smiled in response before picking up his own towel and vanishing into the bathroom.

Returning to the bedroom he found the room empty, worried he quickly dressed and made his way out onto the landing, "Ziva?"

She called upstairs, "In the kitchen."

Relieved he walked down the stairs, smiling as he rounded the corned and saw her pouring coffee into a mug. She turned to face him, "I came down to make coffee, you usually struggle to focus before one mug…" she turned back to the pot and reached for a second mug, "And smiling is usually unheard of before two cups, I don't know what has gotten into you this morning…"

He crossed to her, standing right behind her he whispered in her ear, "It must be the novelty of having you back…"

She felt his hands move to her waist and she extracted herself from him, taking her mug and moving to sit down at the table. "I meant what I said upstairs Jethro. I need to focus solely on the threat until it has passed. I do not need or want your death on my conscious."

He moved to sit opposite her, silent sipping on his coffee and she attempted to lighten the mood once more, "Terrible habit you got me into you know…"

He looked up at her, "What?"

"Coffee drinking... Terribly expensive to have this exact blend flown out to Israel…"

"Oh right…" he turned his attention back to his coffee and she sighed draining her cup before moving to crouch beside him, resting her hands on his knees she waited for him to look at her before speaking, "Jethro I am sorry but right now keeping you alive is my top priority. The only reason Nahir left last night was because I was choking him and holding a gun to his head; it was a choice between life and death. He chose life because it he knew it would leave him the opportunity to try and take your life again. He will wait for a moment when you are alone and isolated and he will come for you… That is something I cannot allow to happen, but Nahir is good, incredibly good and it will take my entire focus to keep you alive… When this is over we will talk. I promise."

She leant up and kissed his cheek, "Are you ready to leave yet?"

He nodded and finished his coffee, carrying his mug to the sink before joining her on the way to the car. The ride back to the office was spent in silence, as was the ride in the elevator up to the bullpen. Stepping out onto the floor Ziva strode over to Jen's desk, "I want you to find Nahir, search every hotel reservation list, do what ever it is that you need to do to find him before he finds us again."

Tony looked up from the desk he was working at, "Again?"

Ziva nodded, "Let's go to the office…"

Jen and Moretti looked on puzzled as Gibbs, Ziva, Tony and McGee all made their way to the elevator. Ziva waited for the doors to close and the descent to begin before hitting the emergency stop button. "Last night Nahir broke into the house. He was on his way up to the bedroom when I intercepted him…"

Tony laughed and held up his hands, "Whoa whoa, hold up, you were in Gibbs's bedroom?"

Gibbs growled, "Enough DiNozzo, it was the best place for her to be; it's particularly difficult for someone to sneak past her and get to me if she is right beside me."

McGee turned to Ziva, "He escaped?"

"No…" Ziva looked to the floor, "I allowed him the option to leave or to die; he chose to leave."

Tony looked at her, "You just let him leave?! Knowing there was a chance he could come back? Why didn't you just snap his neck?"

"Tony I have already killed my brother, given the opportunity I would have preferred not to kill my cousin as well; however it seems that is not to be. When we find him I will not hesitate a second time."

Gibbs could see how annoyed she was becoming with herself and put his hand on her shoulder, "Ziver, you did the right thing."

"No!" her eyes flared with rage and her fist slammed into the side of the lift leaving a dent in the metal. She pulled her hand away and gently rubbed her fist, "I had the chance to eliminate the risk to you, to us all and I did not take it. I allowed emotion to cloud my judgement; fond memories of a long lost childhood. I was trained to be better than that."

He pulled her to him, holding her close and gently kissing her head as her frustration slowly ebbed out of her. Tim and Tony turned away a little embarrassed by their display of intimacy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended  
**A/N: **Thank you for all your lovely reviews, I love reading them

* * *

Eventually Gibbs pulled away, "Lets look at this another way. Rather than trying to find Nahir lets try and find out why Shai was meeting with the marine when he was shot."

Tony slid down to the floor, "This is going to be a long meeting, may as well be comfortable."

The other three joined him on the floor and Ziva began, "I think the marine must have known something about Nahir. I can think of no other reason for Shai to have come into contact with him. Unless…"

She became silent and Tony looked to her, "Unless?!"

"Unless this marine, what was his name staff sergeant…"

McGee spoke, "Mark Miller…"

"Yes! Yes unless this Staff Sergeant Mark Miller had something against Gibbs. Perhaps Nahir had found a way to use him, maybe Shai had discovered he and Nahir had been in contact and he met with the marine to try and persuade him to give up Nahir's location. If Nahir were there too, hidden somewhere in the shadows he would not have thought twice about taking out an asset who had become compromised. He would have shot Shai in the shoulder to hinder his ability to fight back whilst he questioned him to find out how much of his plan had been compromised."

DiNozzo spoke up, "Did anyone do any background on this guy?"

"We did the basics…" McGee said in response, "I spoke to the finance but it was focused around the relationship between Staff Sergeant Miller and Officer Levi. We didn't really look back into his history; we focused on the Mossad angle."

Ziva stood and hit the emergency stop button again, bringing the lift back into action. She paced the small space as it climbed back to their floor; as soon as the doors opened she stormed out of the lift. Stopping at what was once her desk, she glared down at the agent sitting behind it, "Move"

Jen looked up at her, "Excuse me?"

Ziva glared slamming her hand down onto the desk, "I said move! Get out of my way! What part of that do you struggle to understand?"

The three men still standing at the elevator exchanged concerned glances before hurrying over to diffuse the situation; Gibbs spoke first barking at Ziva, "Officer David, with me."

She blinked at him, "what?"

"With me David! Now!"

Ziva quickly backed down and silently followed him out of the room, as Tony attempted to reassure the shocked agent and McGee moved to his desk, beginning to look into the marine's history.

Gibbs led Ziva into one of the interrogation rooms and gently guided her into a chair before crouching in front of her, "What the hell was that all about Ziva? You completely lost control in there… If it weren't for the rest of us I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd ended up snapping her neck…"

Her eyes flashed to meet his, "Of course not! I would never kill anyone unless it was absolutely necessary…" Gibbs simply looked at her, "I would not! Never!"

She looked down and found his eyes filled with concern, "Ziver, what's going on in your head?"

"This is all my fault and I cannot stop it. It is frustrating. I never wanted to put you in danger; I felt taking control of Mossad would keep you safe, now it seems everything I have given up has been for nothing."

Gibbs reached up and pulled her into a hug as she began to sob, "Just let it out Ziver, it's okay…"

She clung to him and cried; he waited for her cries to subside before he held her at arms length and looked her in the eye. "It hasn't been for nothing, what you have done, it's bigger than either one of us alone, and it's bigger than you and me. You have secured the political relationship between Israel and the US. The information you have shared has kept countless people from becoming victims of terrorism."

Guilt crossed her face, "But I didn't do it for all those faceless people. I did it to keep you safe and if I fail now it will all have been pointless."

"Then we won't fail; we caught Ari and we will catch Nahir."

"We didn't catch Ari before he killed Kate, what if Nahir gets one of us first?"

"He won't. We learn from our mistakes Ziva. You, DiNozzo, McGee and I are the most successful team NCIS have ever had. We will all come through this in one piece, okay?" she nodded and he smiled, "So wipe you tears and lets go and see why the marine had it in for me…"

She laughed and wiped her face, "This is serious Jethro."

He rose and nodded looking serious again, "I know… Still it made you laugh."

She followed him out of the room and back to the rest of the team. Tony and McGee rose from their seats as they entered the room. Ziva nodded to the pair of them and crossed to the desk furthest from them. She looked down at the agent, "Agent Whyte I apologise for my behaviour earlier. It was unprofessional and unacceptable; I allowed my frustration to get the better of me. It won't happen again."

Jen nodded, "I understand"

McGee spoke up, "We had to dig a little deeper than we expected boss but we found something. It turned out that Mark Miller had a twin, his parents separated when they were only a year old, and each retained custody of one twin. Mark's mother kept custody of him and when she remarried her new husband adopted the child and Mark took his surname; his twin kept his father's name. They grew up independently but were both aware of the other's existence. The twin was also a marine; they enlisted at the same time and ended up at the same boot camp at Parris Island. We are working on the assumption that this is where they re-established their relationship."

Gibbs cut in, "What have I tod you about assumptions McGee!"

"Yes boss we are waiting for one of the instructors to call us back currently boss but we are talking about a long time ago, there are over 38,000 new recruits every year boss, that's almost 20,000 recruits passing through Parris Island annually. There's no guarantee that he will remember these two at all, let alone in enough detail to know if they had any sort of relationship. Boss the brother's name was Matthew Harding…"

Moretti looked puzzled, "Was?"

DiNozzo turned to the junior agent, "Corporal Matthew Harding was suspected of raping several female officers whilst stationed at Quantico. When he found out he was about to be arrested he took another woman hostage; he attempted to use her as a human shield and escape but he was shot and killed…"

Gibbs spoke up quietly, "By me…"

Ziva spoke up, "I don't understand what Nahir had to gain from this. This marine cannot have known anything about you that Nahir couldn't have easily found out for himself. As a Mossad officer he would have been able to access your file, legally or otherwise… He would have been able to access any personal details he wanted, your address, your current case anything. In fact that's probably how he came to find Staff Sergeant Miller…"

"Easy access…" Everyone turned to look at the voice coming from the corner and Jen elaborated on her point, "As a marine Mark Miller would have been able to gain access to most military facilities without a second glance…"

"That would make sense, but with him dead Nahir will have had to come up with a new plan, that is probably why he came to the house and now he will have to think again. This buys us some time, not a lot but some; especially now he knows that I am here to protect you. This will not prove as easy for him as he had originally thought; his planning will have to be more detailed, more devious to get past me. Have you found him? Any trace of him in Washington at all? A hotel room, rented apartments?"

"Not yet…"

Ziva nodded and crossed to Gibbs's desk, sitting down she began to type, remotely accessing the Mossad database. "I will give you a list of Mossad safe houses in the area; it is possible he is using one of those without our knowledge." She paused and pulled Nahir's file onto her screen, clicking print she rose and retrieved the pages from the printer handing them to Jen, "The first is the list of safe houses; the second is a list of all Nahir's known aliases. He may not be using any of them but it may help track him down."

Jen thanked her and returned to work. The six of them remained within the confines of the office for the rest of the day as teams of other agents searched the addresses Ziva had provided them with. Everyone one of them came up empty and as the sky darkened Gibbs looked to his watched and noted it was already later than the time they normally left. He looked up at the team and announced it was time for them to go home again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Once again Ziva accompanied Gibbs to the car; Tony and McGee were making their way out of the lift as Ziva suddenly froze, flinging her arm out to her side to halt Gibbs, she listened intently in the silence before turning and grabbing Gibbs's hand, "Move!"

She dragged him back towards the lift, pulling him back behind a pillar and crouching over him protectively. She flinched as the car exploded filling the underground lot with deadly shrapnel and acrid smoke. Covering her mouth with her sleeve she moved away, coughing and allowed Gibbs to stand. He took one look at the burning car and ushered all three of them back into the lift with him, "No one is going anywhere tonight…"

The four of them walked back into the bullpen, Gibbs and McGee sat at their desks while Tony pulled up a chair and Ziva perched on the end of Gibbs' desk. She looked thoughtfully at her soot covered hands, "This is not a good sign, we are trained to kill by subtle means, and nothing about a car bomb is subtle…"

Tony spoke up, "He's getting desperate…"

Ziva nodded, "And that's a very bad thing. There is no way of predicting what he will attempt next… "

Gibbs nodded, "Then we stay here tonight and in the morning we go back to hunting him down." Ziva opened her mouth to protest but Gibbs shut her down, "You need to sleep Ziva, agents are currently searching the Navy Yard though I suspect Nahir is long gone. They can carry on without us until the morning."

He ushered them all down to Abby's lab and ordered Ziva onto the futon, she was so tired that she fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow, Gibbs smiled and placed a cover over her, gently tucking her in before turning to the other two men, "She hardly got any sleep last night and she didn't get any sleep today despite me telling her to, so tonight she sleeps through…"

Both men nodded more than happy to take a little of the burden for their former colleague who had looked out for both of them time and time again. Gibbs nodded in approval, "We'll each take three hour watches, that gives the other two six hours sleep at a time. I can't see him making it onto the yard again tonight, security will be even tighter following the car bomb but we're not taking any chances."

As Gibbs had suspected the night passed without incident, he was sat watching his team sleep as Ziva awoke. Sitting up she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and reacquainted herself with her surroundings. She smiled as she saw Gibbs sitting a few feet from her; he crossed to her side and crouched beside her, "Hello sleeping beauty…"

She hid a yawn behind her hand, "_Boker Tov yakiri_, so we all survived another night."

He nodded, "Yes we did"

She grumbled as light flooded the room and Abby bounded into the lab, "Gibbs! Ziva are you okay?! I got here this morning and they wouldn't let me put the hearse in the underground lot, I like to park it in there, the sunlight fades the paint, anyway they said there had been a car bomb, in your car!"

"We are fine Abby, all of us..." Ziva grumbled, "I need coffee…"

Tony leaned into McGee and whispered, "She's turned into Gibbs…"

Abby looked down at the cup in her hand, "Oh I only brought a cup for Gibbs…"

Gibbs took the cup from Abby and removed the lid; reaching a mug from the side he emptied half of it into it before handing it to Ziva.

Once again Tony and McGee looked towards one another in shock, and McGee whispered to Tony, "But Gibbs doesn't share his coffee…"

Ziva glared over the rim of her mug at them, "I can hear you…"

Gibbs looked over at their panicked faces and barely managed to hide his smirk by taking another sip of his coffee.

Ziva swiftly finished her own share, "I need another cup…" She put the mug down on the side and headed for the door, pausing as she heard DiNozzo call out, "not on your own…"

She waited as no one made a move towards her before growling, "One of you hurry up then…"

Gibbs took a step forward, covering the ground between them he put a hand on her waist and gently steered her out of the room. Walking towards the coffee shop he looked at her, "You never used to be this cranky in the morning…"

"Last time we spent any real amount of time together in the morning I hadn't spent the night sleeping on what was basically the floor, and I wasn't trying to stop my cousin from killing you…"

He opened the door of the store for her, "Fair enough…"

She made her way to the counter and ordered two large cups of coffee, she paid and handed one to Gibbs. She sighed and visibly relaxed as she took a sip. She ran her hand through her hair, "I need a shower…"

Gibbs nodded, "You can use the ones back at the office..."

They stepped out of the coffee shop together and were walking back towards the office when from the corner of his eye he saw the sunlight glint off something in the park across the street. Instantly recognising it as the sight of a sniper rifle he grabbed Ziva and pulled her down behind a car as shots began to ring out over the early morning quiet. Automatically he covered her body with his, shielding her as glass from the car windows shattered over them. He remained crouched over her as he heard a car door slam and tires screech away.

Moving off her he straightened up hearing shards of glass drop from his back as he did so. He leant back against the car breathing deeply, looking up he saw DiNozzo and McGee running towards them, guns in hand. Tony reached them first, "Are you two alright?"

Gibbs nodded, "We're both fine DiNozzo…"

Ziva glared, "You spilt my coffee…"

The three men all laughed and Ziva looked to them, Gibbs was the only one brave enough to speak, "We were almost shot dead and your only complaint is that your coffee got spilt…"

Seeing the funny side she joined in the laughter; McGee disappeared into the coffee shop and returned with four fresh cups of coffee just as Director Vance arrived on the scene with several agents, "Three attempts on your life Agent Gibbs, any chance he's going to give up any time soon?"

He looked back at the director, "I doubt it."

"Agent Gibbs this is no time to be flippant…"

"Then I suggest you let me get on with my job so we can end this…"

He began to walk back towards the office and without a word the other three agents began to follow him. "Director David, a word please."

Ziva paused and turned to him, "Director Vance."

"This rogue agent of yours is unacceptable; he is now putting American citizens at risk. American civilians…"

Ziva glared, "With all due respect Director I am very much aware of the problems Officer David is creating here in Washington. It may have escaped your attention but I have been present at all three attempts on Agent Gibbs's life. I am sure it would please my father's supporters if I were accidently terminated in the process. Please rest assured that we will find Officer David and when we do he will be dealt with. Now as Agent Gibbs mentioned I suggest you let us get on with our jobs and I am sure that relations between my agency and yours will remain strong."

She turned and walked away passing the men she paused, "Are you coming or not?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

The three men followed her back to the offices and the rest of the day was spent following up suspected leads.

Leaving that night Ziva and Gibbs travelled to a hotel on the far side of the city. Gibbs paused at the front desk as Ziva checked them into a suite under false names.

Settling into the suite he watched her, "You were always very forward Ziva, but earlier with Vance, was that wise?"

"Probably not… But I do not like my agents risking damage to a reputation I have worked hard to build; and I certainly did not need reminding of the fact."

He nodded, sensing there was nothing to be added, and tossed the room service menu in her direction, "What do you want for dinner?"

Together the two of them waited for their meals to appear, they ate in silence before sliding into bed, Ziva quickly fell asleep and Gibbs lay watching her before he placed his hand over hers and fell asleep.

The next morning Ziva awoke first, smiling as she felt his warmth beside her before slipping from the bed and into the bathroom. She turned the shower on stripped before stepping under the warm stream of water. Allowing the water to wash over her she picked up the small bottle of complimentary shampoo and rubbed it into her hair; quietly moaning as her fingers massaged her tired scalp. Rinsing the bubbles from her hair she leisurely applied conditioner, combing it through with her fingers and beginning to feel human again for the first time in two days.

After finishing showering she stepped out and onto the mat wrapping a large fluffy white towel around her body before wrapping a smaller one around her hair and walking back into the bedroom. She had just sat at the vanity when Gibbs woke.

Seeing him stir in the mirror she smiled and removed the towel from her hair, lightly patting it dry before picking up her brush and gently pulling it through the tangles, "It seems it's my turn to say hello sleeping beauty"

He laughed and slid from the bed walking over to her; he bent down close to her, his lips brushing against her neck as he smelt her hair, "Hmm strawberries…"

She swivelled round to face him, finding herself just centimetres from him she gazed into his eyes before coming to her senses, "I left some in the bottle if you want to use it..." She smirked and turned back to the mirror, "There's coffee in the pot…"

She waited for him to disappear into the bathroom before she finished drying her hair and dressing. She stood crossing to the coffee pot and pouring herself a mug before moving to the sitting area to wait for Gibbs. She glanced up as he appeared in the archway; his hair was still damp and pressed against his forehead, his towel wrapped around his waist. She smiled taking in what had once been such a familiar sight, "I'm not sure what they'll say if you turn up at the office just in a towel…"

She stood walking towards him, "I'm sure you'll be a distraction to most of the women, maybe even some of the men and that would never do especially as we're meant to be working on keeping you alive…" She laughed as he rolled his eyes and crossed to the coffee pot, pouring him a cup before closing the rest of the distance between them.

"Here…" She handed the cup to him savouring the feel of his fingers against hers before cursing herself for allowing herself to be distracted by him. "Get dressed, it's already late, I don't want the others thinking we are dead…"

He nodded before disappearing back through to the bedroom with his coffee. Less than ten minutes later he reappeared now fully clothed and placed his empty cup on the side, "Okay, I'm ready to go."

She nodded and rose from the chair joining him at the door. Together they walked down through the hotel and out to the car. They quickly made their way through the post rush hour traffic as they drove back to the yard; both were in good spirits due to the ten hours of uninterrupted sleep as the stepped from the elevator.

Ziva smiled at Tony as she spotted him, "Sorry we're late, the hotel was on the other side of the city and the traffic…"

She paused sensing the sombre atmosphere in the office she looked around her, "Where is Agent Whyte?"

She looked around at all the agents before her eyes settled on DiNozzo, "Does he have her Tony? Has Nahir got her? Is she dead?"

"We don't know yet Ziva… She didn't appear for work but we've got no evidence he has her, for now it's just a natural assumption…"

Ziva slammed her fist down onto the desk and the whole room jumped at the sudden noise, "I should have protected her…"

Gibbs guided her to his desk, "Ziva this is not your fault."

"I should have known he would do something like this. He idolised Ari almost as much as he idolised my father. Ari came after you through your team, he killed Kate and he attempted to kill Abby I should have suspected the Nahir would attempt to copy him."

The room lapsed into silence as no one knew what they could say to ease Ziva's conscience. Suddenly the telephone rang, the tone piercing the silence. Gibbs picked up the phone and listened to the voice at the other end, growing visibly more agitated as the phone call continued, finally he snapped, "If anything happens to my agent I will hunt you down and I will kill you…"

The voice simply laughed, "You know what you have to do Special Agent Gibbs."

With that the line went dead and Gibbs slammed the phone back into the cradle so hard it broke. Tony was the first to speak, "He's got her then boss…"

Gibbs nodded, "I'm to meet him later and he says he will release her in exchange for me…"

"We have a place for the meet? We can surround it and take him out before anything goes down."

"416 Ridge Road…"

McGee swiftly looked up the address and put the satellite photo on the plasma. DiNozzo moved closer to it and began vocalising possible plans before Ziva spoke up. "No…" they all turned to her, "It will not be that simple. Nahir will know that our first thought would be to surround the building. I expect all Gibbs will find when he goes in is a cell phone; Nahir will probably call and give him locations to another location, the real location and one we will have no time to surround."

DiNozzo looked at her, "How do you know Ziva?"

"Because it is what I would do… If his plan is to get Gibbs alone he will manage it. The best we can hope for is us managing to track Gibbs ourselves and that we reach them before anything happens…"

The rest of the day was spent busily making preparations. Teams of agents were prepared and given details of the positions they were to take up around the building. The car Gibbs was to drive was fitted with a GPS tracking unit; and at Abby's insistence Gibbs allowed Ducky to implant a small tracking chip into his arm.

As they were preparing to leave Abby ran into the bullpen and flung her arms around Gibbs, "Do you really have to do this Gibbs? Oh of course you do…" She suddenly turned on the other three agents preparing to leave, "If anything happens to him just remember I can commit a murder and leave no forensic evidence"

Ziva stepped forward and pulled Abby into a hug, "No harm will come to Gibbs I give you my word Abby. I would die first."

Abby looked shocked, "Oh no Ziva! I don't want you to die either!"

She began to pace frantically and McGee moved to her, placing a hand on each of her shoulders and holding her still, "Hey Abs… Abby look at me, we are all coming back alive okay…"

She looked at him, her eyes filled with a childlike innocence, "You promise?"

"I promise…"

She hugged him tight, "Okay then."

The four of them rode down together in the elevator, DiNozzo and McGee stepped out and Ziva moved to follow when Gibbs put his arm out to block her exit. Pressing the door close button he hit the emergency stop.

"I want you to promise me you will not put yourself in danger to help me… I don't care what you told Abby…"

"I will promise no such think Jethro. I came back to America to protect you from Nahir and that is what I will do. At Mossad we do not fear death; we face it on a daily basis. I am not afraid to die today Gibbs especially if it allows you to remain safe."

He sighed, "I was afraid you would say that. Consider it an order Officer David."

"I am no longer in your chain of command Special Agent Gibbs; you have no authority over me..."

"Damn it Ziva!" Gibbs was beginning to get frustrated, "I am trying to keep you safe!"

"And I you… So let us hope we both come out of this alive Jethro." She looked to the floor and then back at him, "Please know that all I have done over the past few years I have done with the best of intentions. Leaving NCIS… Leaving you, it was all done with the intention of keeping you safe…" she reached up and pressed her lips gently to his, kissing him before slowly pulling away and hitting the button to bring the lift back into action. As the doors opened she strode over to her car and turned the key in the ignition fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Two parts today because I don't know if I'll be able update tomorrow

* * *

She took a deep breath and pulled out of her parking space following the others through the city. Pulling up away from the house she got out and joined the group of agents that would be entering through the front door. Once they had word that all the teams were in place Tony kicked the front door in and entered the house. Guns out they began their search; shouts from the rear informed him that the second team were also making their way through the house. Several shouts of clear reached them and they realised it had been as Ziva had suspected; Agent Whyte had never been there.

The sense of disappointment was clear in the air as a cell phone began to ring. Instantly all the agents knew it had to be Nahir calling and they began to search the room for the source; finding it behind a cushion on the sofa Tony passed the phone to Gibbs.

"So disappointing Agent Gibbs, I asked you to come alone and yet you bring your own SWAT team… I had considered simply rigging the house to explode, it would have got the job done but then I decided I want to look you in the eye as I kill you. Outside there is a black sedan; it is open and the keys are in the ignition. If you wish to save the life of Special Agent Whyte you will drive that car to an address you will find ready programmed into the navigation system. The car is rigged with explosives Agent Gibbs; if I suspect anyone is following you I will simply blow you up. Do not disappoint me again Agent Gibbs"

Gibbs hung up and looked to the others, "Ziva was right, I have to get into a different vehicle if he sees you following he will blow it up."

Ziva nodded, "Then you must go alone; it is the best chance we have of keeping Jen alive."

They all watched as Gibbs moved over to Ziva and pulled her into a hug; whispering in her ear, "This is not your fault, I love you…"

She whispered back into his ear, "I love you too." She pulled away feeling her eyes beginning to fill she fought back the tears as he watched him shake hands with DiNozzo and McGee before walking out to the car and pulling away.

Ziva turned to the group of agents still waiting, masking her true feelings with an air of authority "That's it, go back to the yard, this is over there is no more you can do…"

She began to walk towards the door and DiNozzo grabbed her hand, "You're not just letting him go are you?"

She looked at him, "Gibbs has made his choice Tony. It is not our place to go against his wishes…"

"You're not serious Ziva! This is the boss! You can't just send him to die!"

She grabbed his wrist ignoring his cry of pain as she twisted it in her grip and dragged him from the house; the pair of them were closely followed by McGee. Once away from the house she hissed at Tony, "Of course I'm not leaving him, but did you not stop to think how Nahir knew Gibbs hadn't come alone. He must have the place bugged and if he knew of our plans to go after him he would not wait for Gibbs to reach the location before he killed him… McGee do you have his position?"

He pulled a PDA from his pocket and quickly located the signal from the implant in Gibbs's arm. "He's still moving, heading in the direction of the docks…"

She nodded, "Wait here…"

Ziva disappeared to her car and reappeared minutes later dressed in her suit, four inch heels on her feet and her hair neatly pinned.

Tony stared at her, "What are you gonna do? Hope a little leg distracts him?"

She glared, "I know what I am doing Tony if I appear in combat gear ready to fight he will not hesitate to shoot me, at least this way I might buy Gibbs enough time to escape before he does... McGee is he still moving?"

He nodded and she continued "Then we should go after him now, McGee go with DiNozzo, you can feed me directions…"

They all moved to their cars and began to follow Gibbs. As they had the benefit of knowing roughly where they were heading both able to drive significantly faster than Gibbs had moved across the city. This allowed them to gain significantly on him and as McGee informed them that the receiver had stopped they were only a few blocks away. Ziva instructed them to wait a block away. Crossing to their car she had McGee pull up satellite photos of the warehouse, quickly scanning them she devised a plan and instructed them to wait by the door at the rear of the building and not to enter unless they felt their presence was absolutely essential.

During this Gibbs had pulled up outside the warehouse and cautiously entered. He had immediately spotted Nahir holding a gun to Jen's head at the far end of the warehouse and slowly he began made his way towards them, pausing as he neared them, "Let the girl go Nahir, she has no part in this…"

"In good time Agent Gibbs, but I am no fool, I know of your history. Put your gun on the floor…" He watched as he did, "Now kick it towards me…"

Again Gibbs did as he was told and finally Nahir let Jen go, pushing her in Gibbs's direction, she half stumbled into his arms and he held her calming her down before ordering her to leave.

Nahir waited as she left and turned to Gibbs venom filling his voice, "You murdered my cousin and brought dishonour on my family. My uncle then had to suffer further as his daughter worked for the man who had stolen his son from him. He longed for vengeance but never got the chance. Now I will fulfil his dying wish and restore the family's honour."

Gibbs was standing waiting for the shot to come when a voice echoed in the empty warehouse and the noise of stiletto heels crossing the concrete floor filled the building. "You will do no such thing Officer David."


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.**  
A/N:** Managed to sneak on for a few minutes in the middle of everything so here's the next chapter. For those of you that thought the cliff hanger in the last chapter was nasty just be pleased it was there, it was very nearly 7 paragraphs into this one instead...

* * *

Both men turned to see Ziva approaching from the shadows. Her face displayed no emotion and her voice was cold as she spoke directly to Nahir, ignoring Gibbs completely. "You are a Mossad agent and you will follow orders from your director."

Nahir glared at her, "Why do you defend this man? He killed your brother; the desire to avenge him should flow in your veins as it does in mine. By working for this man you have disgraced your father and the agency…"

Ziva continued walking forwards; intentionally positioning herself between Nahir and Gibbs. She stopped and looked him calmly in the eyes, "Ari was a traitor to our family, to Mossad and to our country. He knew our father had orchestrated his mother's death and he hated him for it, he was no longer a Mossad asset within Hamas, he was a Hamas operative…"

"What has this man done for you that leads you to so willingly lie and dishonour your own brother and father when they are no longer here to defend themselves."

"You are blind to their flaws Nahir, you always have been. Ari was a traitor and my father was not a good man."

"You were in this country for too long Ziva, you have allowed this man to brainwash you against your country; against your family. This man deserves to die"

"Agent Gibbs is guilty of nothing but protecting me." She ignored the warning from behind and continued, "The report was a fake. I killed Ari and Agent Gibbs lied to ensure my father's wish for revenge was not directed at me; he knew it would be far easier for my father to orchestrate my death than his…"

"You?! You killed Ari? You brought shame on your own family… You are a disgrace to Mossad and to the country of Israel."

A shot rang out and Ziva fell to the floor. Gibbs looked on in shock as Nahir crossed to her prone body; he pointed the gun towards her head, his finger was poised to pull the trigger when her foot shot upwards knocking it from his hand. Swiping his feet from under him she hissed, "Did my father teach you nothing… You have a head shot you take it. You never know when your target will be wearing a vest."

She gingerly moved away from him reaching for the gun she had just kicked away when she saw him roll to the side and grab the gun he had ordered Gibbs to discard earlier. She saw him raise the gun, aim in her direction and fire; instinctively she moved to the side but winced as the bullet grazed her arm.

At the sound of the second shot McGee and DiNozzo burst into the warehouse. The noise of their sudden arrival created enough of a distraction for Ziva to move forward and knock the gun from his hands for the second time. It skidded across the floor coming to rest at Gibbs's feet; he picked it up training it in Nahir's direction but found himself unable to take a shot without risking hitting Ziva.

All three men could only watch on in horror as the two cousins fought in the centre of the room. Both of them dropped into their fighting stances ready to begin the hand-to-hand combat they had been trained so thoroughly in, Nahir was the first to move, taking a step forward swinging his leg upwards and round in Ziva's direction. She easily side stepped before swinging her own leg upwards and connecting solidly with his gut. He doubled over winded and Ziva wasted no time in closing the gap between them, bringing her knee up to connect with his face and breaking his nose with a crunch. She moved back slightly and waited for him to stand upright once more before lunging towards him, forcing him onto his back and pressing her good arm to his throat, closing off his windpipe. She looked calmly down into his eyes as he struggled to breath waiting for the end.

Suddenly she hissed in pain as his fist made contact with the ribs the bullet had broken earlier and he used her moment of weakness to force a change in position. Ziva found herself forced onto her back as her cousin straddled her waist. Pinned beneath him she was unable to move as he brought the heel of his hand down onto her chest and a sickening crack filled the room as he broke another rib. Ziva gritted her teeth determined not to give him the satisfaction of vocalising her pain but as he moved further over her and allowed the whole of his body weight to press against her broken ribs she couldn't help but cry out in pain as she struggled to breathe. She strained beneath him but his greater body weight and her difficulty breathing worked against her as his hand closed around her throat slowly choking her.

The three men watched in shock as the movement suddenly stopped and both figures lay slumped on the ground. For a moment none of the men could move, all rooted to the spot in shock. When they saw the tiniest flicker of movement Gibbs was the first to react, sprinting over to them and pulling Nahir's body from Ziva's. He crouched down beside her noting the amount of red staining her shirt, as he gently pulled her fringe back out of her face "Ziva?"

She gasped for breath as the pressure was removed from her chest, "Not my blood Gibbs…" She winced as she raised her hand to point in Nahir's direction and his eyes followed her hand and spotted the handle of a small knife sticking out of his chest. He turned his attention back to Ziva and her eyes locked onto his. "Rule nine Gibbs. Always carry a knife…"

She gasped in pain as she tried to sit and she clung to Gibbs as he helped ease her into an upright position, she clamped her hand around her injured arm and looked around the room demanding a phone. McGee passed his to her and they remained silent as she dialled a number, the weakness briefly disappearing from her voice as she barked a number of orders in Hebrew down the line.

She ended the call and the phone slid from her fingers and onto floor as she began to shiver; her blood beginning to seep between her fingers no matter how tightly she clamped them to her wound. Gibbs instructed DiNozzo to call an ambulance before carefully removing Ziva's jacket and shirt. He gently removed the bulletproof vest that had saved her life but was now hindering her breathing before shrugging his jacket from his shoulders; taking his shirt off he ripped the sleeve away, wrapped it around her arm, pulling it into a tight knot to stem the bleeding before gently draping his jacket around her shoulders. He carefully pulled her to him, gently holding her mindful of her broken ribs. Resting his head on hers he mumbled into her hair, "It's okay Ziver, it's finished… it's all over…"

Tony and McGee stood protectively over them as Ziva clung to Gibbs. Suddenly the silence that had enveloped them was shattered as agents, local police and paramedics all flooded into the warehouse.

Gibbs left Tony and McGee in charge of the scene as he forced his way onto the ambulance with Ziva, clutching her hand in his for the entire journey and only releasing it as they arrived at the hospital and he was told he could go no further. He paced in the waiting room, watching the clock as the minutes ticked by agonisingly slowly as doctors ran tests and took X rays before treating her. When he was finally allowed to see her he found her sitting upright in bed, her ribs were strapped and a bright white bandage circled her arm. She smiled as she saw him and motioned for him to come closer, wincing as the movement jarred her ribs.

He hurried to her side, "Hey, doctors say you can leave in the morning as long as you have no problems overnight…"

She nodded "They told me, they put me on painkillers to help with my breathing, they should kick in soon…" She settled back into a more comfortable position, "Will you stay with me tonight?"

He nodded and pulled over a chair, taking her hand in his, "Of course I will."

Smiling she gently kissed his hand, "Thank you…"

He shook his head, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else…" He looked at her lying back on the pillows, "I'm so mad at you Ziver…"

She looked at him confused, "You're angry with me?"

He nodded, "Of course I am! You could have died in there! You were shot twice! And that first time when I didn't know you were wearing that vest and I thought you were dead… That I'd lost you again…" He paused attempting to blink away the tears that were building in his eyes.

She squeezed his hand tightly, "I'm sorry I scared you Jethro…" She slowly reached up and brushed a stray tear from his cheek.

He nodded recapturing her hand and pressing his lips against it repeatedly, "Don't you ever scare me like that again…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Thank you for coming after me…"

"I would never have just left you; we have always been there for one another, that is what makes us special. You are far too important to me for me to just let you walk away like that…"

She yawned and he gently stroked her hair, leaning forwards he gently kissed her forehead, "You're exhausted, try and get some sleep, I'm going nowhere…"

She nodded and closed her eyes; slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep as Gibbs rubbed her hand, sensing that she was not having too much difficulty breathing he moved closer resting his head on the edge of the bed and falling asleep himself.


	12. Chapter 12

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** This is the penultimate part, so thank you for sticking with me!

* * *

The next morning both Ziva and Gibbs made use of the shower at the hospital before changing into the clothes DiNozzo had thoughtfully sent in for them. Gibbs waited patiently as Ziva underwent one final examination before signing her discharge papers and heading to the pharmacy to pick up the painkillers she had been prescribed. He walked with her out to the car McGee had dropped off the night before; he ignored her protests and helped her ease into the passenger seat before he walked around to the driver's side and slid into the car himself.

They quickly navigated their way through the late morning traffic and made their way to the Navy Yard. He pulled into a parking space and Ziva stepped out of the car waving away his offers of assistance, "It's just a couple of broken ribs Gibbs"

He rolled his eyes and walked with her into the building. Stepping in the elevator he turned to her, "You do realise we're about to be pounced upon…"

She looked up at him, "Abby?"

He nodded and watched as the numbers on the display rise until they reached their floor. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as the doors opened and they stepped out into the bullpen.

Abby was pacing impatiently up and down the space between the team's desk, hearing the ping of the elevator she looked up her eyes brightening as she saw them. She quickly ran to them tightly hugging Gibbs before very tenderly cuddling Ziva, "I was so worried about the pair of you!"

Ziva smiled as she slowly detached herself from her friend's grasp, "We're both fine Abby… I've been injured worse in a sparring match…"

Abby frowned, "Don't play down what you did! You saved everyone! You're a hero!"

McGee smiled as he came over and gently directed her away from Ziva; allowing Gibbs to lead Ziva over to his desk and sit her in his chair. They began filling in the piles of paperwork that accompanied the end of the case. Working quietly as one by one the agents found themselves being called in by Director Vance to give their accounts of the incident.

Ziva looked up as she heard footsteps coming to a stop in front of her and found Agent Whyte standing into front of her desk, "Director David I want to thank you for the part you played in bringing me home safely yesterday."

Ziva smiled, "I am sorry that my cousin pulled you into his game. You did not deserve that…"

Jen smiled and held her hand out, shaking Ziva's hand as she offered it to her, "I hope one day to have half the courage you do. Agent Gibbs is right; you are one of a kind… Maybe one day I will get the opportunity to work with you again…"

Ziva nodded and rose as Director Vance requested her presence. "I hope so Agent Whyte…"

Just over an hour later Ziva found herself back in the bullpen waiting for Gibbs to return from his meeting with Vance. Smiling as she spotted him she gingerly rose from her seat and met him at the bottom of the stairs, "The others have already gone to the bar, I said we would meet them there."

He smiled and grabbed his coat, "Let's get going then… It's not much of a get together if the guest of honour is missing Director David… They all want to spend some time with you before you leave again …"

She nodded, "I know, Agent Gibbs…"

He shook his head, "Not anymore, they've officially retired me…"

"I must say I never thought I would see the day that you would give up your badge quietly…"

He laughed, "I wouldn't exactly say that this last week has been me going quietly…"

She smiled, "Perhaps not…"

She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly before slowly leading him out of the building and over to the car, slipping into the passenger side she leant back against the headrest, closing her eyes and drifting into a light slumber as Gibbs made the short journey between the Navy Yard and the bar they once frequented. He found a parking space and gently rested his hand on her knee, "Ziva?"

She stirred blinking at him, "Did I fall asleep?"

He smiled and nodded, "We're here now…"

Walking into the bar together they smiled as they saw the familiar faces all sitting round a booth together. DiNozzo spotted them and slid out of the booth walking towards them and meeting them by the bar, "What are you drinking then? You two are not to pay for a thing tonight…"

Ziva smiled, "Just an orange juice for me, I'm on these stupid painkillers… Though I'm sure he'll have bourbon as always…"

Gibbs laughed before accepting the drink and crossing back to the booth with DiNozzo, the team all bunched up to make room for them and Ziva sat enjoying the familiar banter that had once been commonplace in her life. As the hours passed the group slowly thinned; first to leave were Ducky and Abby, both hugging Ziva and wishing her the best as they went; next to leave was McGee and finally DiNozzo stood, "I'd better get going, some of us have work in the morning…"

Gibbs stood and clipped the back of his head before pulling him into a hug, "You'll do DiNozzo… Just don't forget the rules."

He nodded, "Of course not Boss…"

Ziva stood and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for everything Tony…"

He gently rubbed her back, "My pleasure Zee-vah" his hand began to snake down her back and she twisted out of his grasp, ignoring the pain in her ribs and she pinned his arm behind his back.

"Nice try DiNozzo…" She released his arm and walked around him gently kissing his cheek, "Don't ever change Tony…"

"Never Zee-vah…"

She smiled and watched as he walked out before she turned to Gibbs; he smiled at her, "Have you got time to get some dinner?"

She nodded, "My plane doesn't leave until lunchtime tomorrow…"

Gibbs helped her on with her coat and led her out to the car. She held her hand out for his keys, "You've had a drink, I'm driving…"

He nodded, "Why don't we go back to mine, I'll cook…"

She smirked, "Ooh Leroy Jethro Gibbs offers to cook for me for a second time in less than a week… This must be some sort of a record…"

He laughed, "Just drive before I change my mind David…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Title:** When Two Worlds Collide  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** Case fic  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Pairing:** None currently  
**Summary:** Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** So this is then end, I hope you've enjoyed it! Thank you for all the reviews  


* * *

Smiling as they pulled into his driveway he led her into the house, and settled her on the couch before heading into the kitchen to cook. Not noticing her moving to stand in the doorway and silently watch him as he moved easily around his kitchen.

She joined him at the kitchen table as he dished up, smiling as they settled down to eat. The pair of them reminisced on past cases, remembering the time Ziva and DiNozzo had found themselves locked in a shipping container and Ziva's habit of disobeying direct orders, particularly when a bomb was involved.

Gibbs stood and cleared the plates as they finished before leading her back through to the sitting room, sitting down beside her he noticed the gold band on her finger for the first time, "So are you married?"

She looked up at him surprised by the sudden change in conversation but answered him anyway, "I'm divorced… twice; it seems it wasn't just your coffee addiction that rubbed off on me…"

He reached for her hand, "You still wear your ring…"

She laughed slightly, "This isn't my wedding ring, do you not recognise it?" She slid the ring from her finger and passed it to him, "Read the inscription"

He looked at it, "_Ani O'hev O'Tach. _LJ." He looked back up at her, "You still wear this?"

She smiled, "Of course I do, I've always worn it, besides do you know how many functions I have to attend? It's far easier for me to let them think I'm married then tell them I have no interest in them what so ever…"

He laughed slightly, "So there's no one else?"

Ziva smiled, "There's never really been anyone else… Even when I was married"

He took her hand in his, "I'm sorry Ziva…"

She shrugged in response, "It's no great loss if I am honest. We are content, just the two of us…"

"The two of you?"

Ziva nodded, "My daughter and I"

Gibbs hid his shock at her revelation, "From your first or second marriage?"

She shook her head, "Neither, Lillia Jordan… Lily was conceived before my first marriage."

"Do you have a picture?"

"Of course…" she reached her bag from the end of the sofa and pulled out her purse. She slid a laminated photo from it and gently stroked the image smiling fondly, "She has her father's eyes, every time I look at her I am reminded of him…"

She looked up at him and smiled before passing the photo to him. He took the picture from her and looked at it, he saw Ziva looking relaxed and happy, her attention was focused entirely on the young girl sitting in her arms, his attention then settled on the little girl who was happily posing for the camera and found familiar startling blue eyes staring back at him, "Ziver how old is Lily?"

Ziva looked down at her hands as she twisted them together, "She turned five last month…"

"And how long ago did you leave for Israel?"

"Five years, seven months…"

"And twenty-eight days," he finished for her, "Ziva is she…"

She nodded silently and he reached for her hand, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"By the time I realised you were busy making preparations to marry wife number five… I take it that was about as successful as marriages two through four…"

He laughed, "Even less so… I was on the rebound, trying to get you out of my head, it didn't work… It's been five years Ziva, not once did you think I'd like to know I had a daughter?"

"Of course I did, I thought about you all the time but the longer I left it the harder it got; what was I meant to do, turn up with a three year old, smile and shout surprise? Anyway I thought keeping you away would keep you safe… And her I didn't want anything happening to her because of us… She was the only bit of you I had left…"

"Oh Ziver…."

She moved closer to him sliding her arms around him and resting her head on his chest, the regular movement of his chest expanding and contracting soothing her as he wrapped his arms around her, "At the bar earlier you said that you were planning on going back to Mexico now you were officially retired, have you ever considered Israel?"

"Not the best place for me to be Ziver. It seems there are still a few people over there who would like to see me dead…"

She looked up at him, "Not anymore…"

He looked back in surprise before a moment of clarity hit him, "That phone call…"

"Don't judge me Jethro… Nahir was here on their orders, and during his time here he attempted to murder me, that made them complicit in the assassination attempt of the Mossad Director. They have been dealt with accordingly." She ignored his unimpressed look and moved back taking both his hands in hers and looking into his eyes, "Jethro consider Israel, you have a daughter who would love to meet her father and a woman who believes the third time is a charm…"

"What?"

"I want you to marry me Jethro… You have no idea how much it killed me to leave you, I only agreed to return to Israel in order to protect you but now…" She looked at his concerned face, "Even Henry the Eight was happy with his sixth wife…"

His face broke into a smile and he laughed leaning forward he gently kissed her, "Then how could I refuse…"

She beamed, the smile lighting up her whole face, and shifted closer to him, kissing him deeply before yawning. "I'm sorry I didn't realise it was so late…"

He smiled, "let's go to bed, we both have a long flight in the morning…"

She allowed him to lead her up to bed and slid under the duvet, shifting her weight slightly as he slid his arm around her; her head coming to rest on his chest as they both drifted off to sleep.

The following morning Gibbs walked into Abby's lab for the final time, "Hey Abs…"

"Oh Gibbs you came back!"

He shook his head and pointed to his visitor's badge, "No Abs I just came to say goodbye…"

"Goodbye?! But you'll still be in Washington won't you; I'll still see you every week…"

He shook his head slightly, pulling her into a hug as she rushed towards him, "I'll call you every week Abs…"

She sniffed, "Are you going back to Mexico? Because that's only a four hour flight from here, I could come down once a month!"

"I'm going a little further afield this time Abs… Israel…"

"Israel? Why on earth would you want to go to Israel?! They sent people to kill you Gibbs!"

Ziva stepped into the room and began to walk towards the pair of them, "Jethro we need to leave in no more than fifteen minutes to make sure the jet doesn't miss its slot for take off…"

Abby's eyes widened, "Are you two…."

Ziva smiled coming to stop at Gibbs's side and leaned upwards gently kissing him before sliding her arms around his waist and leaning against him, "Yes we are… I promise you that we'll keep in touch… We'll put a call in over the satellite into MTAC every week… And you'll have to visit..." She paused and anticipated the squealing that she knew would follow her next statement, "for the wedding…"

As Ziva had predicted Abby squealed and flung her arms around the pair of them hugging them tightly, "I'm so happy for you guys!"

Ziva smiled, "Thank you Abby"

Gibbs kissed her cheek, "You keep up the good work Abs, and make sure you keep DiNozzo and McGee in check…"

She gasped, "Tony's coming home?!"

Gibbs laughed, "He was only at Norfolk Abs… But yes he's coming back… He and McGee will both have their own teams… So you just keep them in line, don't let them do anything I wouldn't do…"

"Oh I promise Gibbs!" She hugged him tightly before releasing her grip and stepping back, "You better go… I don't want you to miss your plane…"

Ziva took his hand as they left the office for the last time, handing back their visitor passes they settled into the back of the car for the trip to the airfield.

The adrenaline that had flooded Ziva's veins for most of the week had left her body leaving her exhausted and she spent most of the flight curled tightly against Gibbs fast asleep. He only woke her as the plane began it's descent into Tel Aviv. Stepping through the door of the jet Ziva held Gibbs's hand reassuringly as she led him down the steps and onto the tarmac, waving as her sister and her daughter stepped from the waiting car. The child ran across the tarmac and into her arms; Gibbs noticed as she winced slightly, the only sign of the pain her ribs were still causing her. She kissed the child's hair "Hello _ahuvi_."

She laughed slightly as the girl looked over at Gibbs and then buried her face in her shoulder, mumbling a stream of Hebrew. Ziva smiled, "Lillia Jordan you know when we have guests we speak English…" She turned to Gibbs, "She says that you have blue eyes just like hers and that you look like the man in the special photograph…" She smiled at Gibbs's intrigue and turned her attention back to her daughter, "That is the man in mummy's special photograph..."

Gibbs watched as the girl pulled away to look her mother in the eye, her own eyes brightening with surprised, "_Abba_?"

Ziva nodded, "Yes princess… _Abba_..."

Lily gazed shyly over in Gibbs's direction before holding out her hands, "Daddy…"

Gibbs took her from Ziva and smiled as Lily wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. "_Ima_ has told me lots of stories about you…"

Gibbs looked down into the familiar blue eyes, "Oh has she?"

Lily grinned and nodded gently reaching round and clipping the back of his head with her hand before giggling. Gibbs gasped and pretended to be shocked before smiling and kissing her forehead. Lily grinned and leaned in, covering her mouth as she whispered in his ear. Gibbs bit his lip and looked at Ziva, "Lily would like to know if she can have a little brother or sister now…"

Ziva laughed, "We'll see…"

Lily turned to her and pouted, "That mean no…"

Gibbs stroked her hair, "It means mummy and daddy will see what we can do…"

Ziva's eyes widened as she looked to him and he shrugged, "Well I am retired now; I need something to fill my time…"

Lily grinned and kissed his nose before burying her face in his shoulder once more and Ziva smiled taking his spare hand leading him to the waiting car. Settling down into the seats she spoke to the driver in Hebrew and smiled as the car moved off taking them all to the compound she had lived in for the past five years but could now finally call home.


End file.
